I need to get a wall plug but I’m stuck on which protocol I want it to run.
Z-wave, zigbee, mqtt …?
I have a z wave controller with a few fibaro dimmers and switches. I could get a zigbee controller if that is recommended.
My main question is, which protocol should I go for for my home automation stuff. I read somewhere about a home automation user that ditched everything for mqtt.
I new so don’t take my advise as gospel but… since you have a zwave controller, maybe keep using it and get a zwave wall plug and give it a try. I’ve heard several folks in the know talk of how the zwave binding is more ‘mature’ and well developed. Additionally, because products that use zwave must have certification to show they work well with the protocol. Zigbee on the other hand does not require products to comply strictly to the standard and several products don’t work as well in openHAB because they don’t comply to the standard.
I am also very new to zwave, having just purchased a couple zwave products. In habmin, there are some really nice tools to work with zwave devices and a lot of configuration options. I’ve not seen any of the sort for zigbee stuff in openHAB, less configuration options.
With all that said, I have a Linear HUSBZ stick that does both zwave and zigbee. I am currently using both. I trying zwave because I’m less then thrilled with a lot of zigee device and hope zwave will prove more reliable. I have, however, had very good luck with tp-link Smart Wi-Fi Plug Mini. (which is a zigbee device) It get discovered in openHAB quickly and just works. Have no experience with any zwave plugs
There is not one good answer I think.
I use some z-wave switches, in every room I have a temp/hum. Sensor (zigbee) from xiaomi. Some Philips HUE lamps (Zigbee).
Some IOT Devices can be flashed with a MQTT firmware. I have no experience with that jet.
Everything has a use case and a price. So not one good answer
I have all the protocols you mention and I’d say they all have their own justification. However, if you are not certain that you have great WiFi-coverage in your whole house, I’d start out with a protocol that supports meshing.
There’s no generally valid answer to this. Everyone has to decide on his own.
Now since you already run ZWave there’s little point in going ZigBee except maybe for the sake of color lighting, but they’re pretty similar. ZWave is more mature w.r.t. OH and device implementations.
The main point in going MQTT is prices of devices - the cheapest devices are WiFi/MQTT driven, but there’s drawbacks such as security, range and a couple of others.
If I were you and you don’t mind those few extra bucks, I’d stick with ZWave.
Thanks all for your input and discussion.
I know how to continue 